TRENTON A Mercer County grand jury on Tuesday indicted public works employee and union leader David G. Tallone, charging him with 15 counts of fraud-related crimes, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Tallone, an employee of Trenton’s Department of Public Works, is alleged to have fraudulently used his sister’s name to obtain catering contracts with the city. As a Trenton employee, Tallone is prohibited from entering into vendor contracts with the city.

Last night Steve Glickman, a special attorney hired by the city, said Tallone would be suspended without pay from his position, pending the outcome of the indictment.

When charges against him were first announced in November, the city did not fully suspend Tallone, who was identified as president of AFSCME Local 2286 and of the City of Trenton Employees Credit Union.

“When there’s an indictment, that rises to a different level. So when somebody is indicted, then they are suspended without pay pending the result,” Glickman said. “There was no confusion before. There was just no indictment before.”

Tallone is charged with impersonation and forgery for allegedly using his sister’s name on contracts to provide food for city events between April 2007 and May 2011, according to the announcement from Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr.

Tallone was indicted on eight counts of impersonation and seven counts of forgery. Each is a third-degree crime carrying a maximum penalty of five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine.

The indictment charges the 56-year-old with obtaining contracts with the City of Trenton valued at more than $50,000, a violation of the Faulkner Act, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

Upon awarding the contracts, the city issued checks to Tallone’s sister, which were then cashed or deposited into the credit union accounts of Tallone or his family members, with Tallone’s sister’s name forged to endorse the check, according to the statement.

“The city is never happy to see an employee get indicted. It is certainly beyond our control, and all we can do is act in the best interest of the city and be consistent.” Glickman said.

Bocchini credited Detectives Michael Ferraro and Denise Gorlin of the county’s Economic Crime Unit with the investigation, which sprang from a tip by a concerned citizen, according to the statement.